Balloon 7: Reading Time Outside + 5th Grade Dino Dig

A beautiful morning to enjoy a book outside!  In the afternoon we visited the 5th graders uncovering bones during their dino dig.

Balloon Number 6: Lunch in the Classroom

Eating lunch in the classroom is always a special treat!

Balloon Number 5: Marker Day

On Friday we popped balloon number 5, and the message inside said to use a marker on your assignments all day long.  As if this wasn't exciting enough, the students got to pick out a "teacher" marker to keep forever!  The kids couldn't have been more excited... who knew how happy markers can make kids:)

Finally It's Mrs. Gjere!

Mrs. Gjere is our Title I teacher, and she is in and out of our classroom working with students a lot during our days.  Very often after reading the Mystery Reader clues, the class would say, "Oh, it has to be Mrs. Gjere!"  Then she would come walking into our room to work with students, and we'd know it wasn't her.  I thought that Mrs. Gjere would be the perfect finale!

The 3rd clue really threw the class for a loop: "I biked across the United States when I was 23 years old."  Nobody guessed Mrs. Gjere, but a few students thought maybe their parents had secret biking lives they hadn't shared with their children!  When Mrs. Gjere came into the room, they had to think about it for a second before they realized Mrs. Gjere was really their Mystery Reader!

We spent a lot of time discussing her biking trip; the kids found this fascinating!  Mrs. Gjere did an awesome job helping the kids make inferences as she read "Willoughby and the Lion."

Authors' Celebration + Ice Cream = Balloon Number 4

Our balloon popping event today was an Authors' Celebration with the kindergarten class along with an ice cream treat.  We wrote and published poetry in April, but we still haven't had the chance to share it.  This provided us with the perfect opportunity!  The kindergartners also shared books they recently wrote and will be sharing at their kick out!

Balloon Number 3: Math Fact Kickball

This morning our balloon picker opted to sit on the ball to pop it.  This sure made the class laugh!  Our balloon surprise was math fact kickball.  Before the students could kick, they had to solve a math fact.  Thanks to Mrs. Gjere for flashing the cards while I pitched.

Another wonderful surprise was that the seniors showed up at our door with letters they wrote back to us.  How fun!

Balloon Number Two: Nature Scavenger Hunt

Perfect day to enjoy the outdoors!  There are also a few pictures of us below delivering our letters to the seniors that we wrote yesterday.  Watching them hand-off their letters to the surprised seniors was priceless.